Various Artists – Tanbou Toujou Lou: Meringue, Kompa Kreyou, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore from Haiti (1960-1981) (Ostinato Records, 2016)
Occasionally some crank will go on and on about how great the music was in his or her day and about how today all the music is garbage. I have a tendency to chalk up this kind of discontented blathering a way for some people to wax poetic about the music of their day and that need for the musical version of comfort food. But every once in a while I get a musical kick in the gut like with Ostinato Records’ June 2016 release of Tanbou Toujou Lou: Merengue, Kompa Kreyou, Vodou Jazz & Electric Folklore from Haiti (1960-1981).
Culled from private collections and radio archive storage rooms from New York to Port-au-Prince to Jacmel to St. Marc, the music of Tanbou Toujou Lou is the living, breathing legacy of the height of Haiti’s rich musical scene during the 1960s, 70s and 80s from recording labels like Ibo Records, Marc Records and Mini Records, as well as a wealth from smaller labels.
So, with densely packed percussion, finely honed brass lines and all the riches groups like Zotobre, Les Gypsies de Petionville and Les Loups Noirs managed to squeeze out of African roots music, Cuban and Colombian musical styles and vodou drumming, it’s not such a leap to find the music of the past worth pining over while shedding a tear or two.
All it takes is a listen to Tanbou Toujou Lou’s opening track “Lagen” by Zotobre to fall victim to the stunning, explosive richness of Haiti’s musical legacy. I dare anyone to find better percussion on a recording done in the last year. And, Tanbou Toujou Lou just gets better with Les Gypsies de Petionville’s “Francine,” Les Loups Noirs’ “Bebe Showman” and “Gislene” by Tabou Combo.
Fans get a taste of groups like Coupe Cloue et Trio Select, Super Jazz de Jeunes, Ensemble Etoile du Soir and Ensemble Webert Sicot.
While some tracks may sound a little dated, one thing is clear that this music is vibrantly drawn, and has been largely and sorrowfully overlooked.
Compiled and curated by Vik Sohonie, Tanbou Toujou Lou is lushly packed with heady tracks like “Lonin,” “Tipotage” and “Samba Pachas No2.”
With 19 tracks of Haitian deliciousness in a blast from the past it’s hard to go wrong with this offering.
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
